The present invention relates to wagering, promotional or novelty products, and more particularly to such a product having a concealed message.
Promotional devices such as advertising sheets, wagering games such as lottery tickets, and novelty products such as greeting cards all desirably utilize a gimmick or technique to attract and maintain the interest of the prospective reader or user. A standard but still effective gimmick is the use of a concealed message including light-sensitive hidden messages (which are visible only under light of a particular wavelength), water-activated hidden messages (which are visible when the message is moistened with water), glow-in-the-dark hidden messages (which are visible only in darkness and after initial exposure to light), and rub-off lottery tickets (wherein the winning number or symbol is initially concealed by an opaque coating and revealed only when the coating is scratched or rubbed off, as with an eraser or coin), and the like. Where the product is a wagering card, such as the rub-off lottery ticket, in which the winning wagerer receives immediate gratification upon comparing the just revealed message with a fixedly visible message on the lottery ticket itself or elsewhere and finding a match, it is also necessary to reassure the wagerer that the person distributing the lottery tickets did not first see the concealed message and thereafter save for himself the winning tickets, while selling only the losing tickets. Light-sensitive messages, water-activated messages, glow-in-the-dark messages and similar initially concealed messages which revert to their original "concealed" condition after having once been made visible are thus unsatisfactory from this purpose. Rub-off lotto tickets are only slightly better as, rightfully or wrongfully, the user may assume that ticket distributor could rub off the coating, view the "concealed" message, and then sell the winning tickets to himself and sell the losing tickets to others after applying a similar coating to them. Thus, in the case of wagering products, the product ideally evidences the continuously concealed nature of the concealed message prior to the wagerer himself revealing the same--for example, by irreversibly revealing the concealed message once it is revealed.
In any case, the elaborateness of the procedure required to bring out the concealed message may itself prove a turnoff to the user who may object to having to scratch or rub off the coating from the rub-off lottery tickets, to retreat to the bathroom or kitchen or to obtain water, to locate a room with special lighting or a dark room in order to see a message. Thus the need remains for a novelty item having a gimmick which reveals a concealed message easily, simply, rapidly and without the need for a special environment (such as darkness, special light, fluid, or the like).
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novelty product having a concealed message which is easily, simply, and rapidly revealed without the need for a special environment.
Another object is to provide a wagering card having a concealed wager which is easily, simply, rapidly, and irreversibly revealed without the need for a special environment.
A further object to provide a promotional piece having a pair of advertisements, the first advertisement being initially visible and the second advertisement being initially concealed but easily, simply and rapidly revealed without the need for a special environment.